Is Jackson Arnold's time at Oklahoma now in the rear-view mirror?

The Jackson Arnold era as the starting quarterback at the University of Oklahoma has been put on hold -- at least for the moment.

Arnold, a highly touted five-star recruit out of high school and perceived to be the Sooners' quarterback of the future when he arrived at OU in the spring of 2023, has struggled in a floundering Oklahoma offense through the first four games of the 2024 season.

Through the Sooners first four games this season, Arnold has completed just 60 percent of his passes (61 of 102) for 538 yards and seven touchdowns. Four of those seven TD passes came in OU's season opener, a 51-3 rout of a much-inferior Temple Owl team.

Head coach Brent Venables told reporters during his regularly scheduled weekly press conference on Tuesday that the offense has a lot of moving parts, and there isn't just one easy fix to the Sooners' offensive woes. There are multiple problems that need to be addressed. The quarterback is just one part, albeit a big part, of it.

Against Tennessee, in just one half of play, Arnold threw for just 54 yards and directed an offense that gained less than 100 yards in the opening 30 minutes. The bigger problem that led to his benching, though, was an interception on a ball thrown into tight coverage that shouldn't have been thrown and two costly fumbles on the Tennessee side of the field, one that was on a first-and-goal on the Volunteers' five-yard line.

And this wasn't just a one-bad-game phenomenon. Arnold had made similar mental and execution mistakes in games against Houston and Tulane two weeks before.

"We were not in any kind of rhythm offensively," Venables said during his weekly press conference on Tuesday in explaining why he removed the starter Arnold from the game just before halftime on Saturday. "It just didn't feel like we were making good decisions within the scheme. Certainly there were lots of issues, but making good decisions and putting us in good position is part of everyone's job."

True freshman Michael Hawkins Jr. entered the game in place of Arnold for one series right before the first-half intermission and remained at the quarterback spot for the Sooners for the remainder of the game. Hawkins didn't necessarily light the world on fire with his performance, but he did manage to lead the OU offense on a couple of long touchdown drives.

Hawkins finished the Tennessee game with 11 of 18 passing for 132 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for 22 yards and, more importantly, committed no turnovers.

Venables and offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Seth Littrell saw enough they liked from the true freshman that early this week Venables named Hawkins the starter for the game at Auburn on Saturday. Thus, Hawkins will become the seventh Oklahoma true freshman to start at quarterback dating back to the 1970s.

"Maybe this will give us a better chance moving forward," Venables said. "I made that annoucement for a lot of reasons. I certainly didn't want a decision like that to hang over anyone's head, and we've got to get better. Sometimes maybe change is good."

How long this change will remain in effect is anybody's guess. If the Sooners are able to record a win at Auburn on Saturday and Hawkins turns in a good performance, it's entirely probable that Hawkins will get the call again for the rivalry game with Texas on Oct. 12 in Dallas.

Venables said Arnold is handling the situation about as well as can be expected. The expectations for the former prized recruit and Gatorade National Player of the Year have been sky high ever since he committed to be at Oklahoma. And to be replaced as the starter after five career starts is enough to shake anyone's confidence.

"He understood," Venables said of Arnold's reaction to the benching. "He's a tough guy, he takes responsibility and didn't make excuses." We know what he can do, we've seen on the practice field, the Sooner head coach said. We're just not seeing it consistently enough in the games.

Venables went on to say, "Jackson is going to have an amazing future and career. He's going to play this game a long time."

All of this will work itself out in due time, Venables said. "And that might be pulling the trigger even on Saturday night ...so he's gotta stay ready.

"Put your head down and get better. That's what you (Arnold) can control, and he's doing that."

I don't believe we're going to see Arnold put his tail between his legs and stomp off anytime soon. He's got far too much character and integrity to do that. And remember, he is just a sophomore and is still learning. The skill is definitely there. Once the experience catches up, we will start seeing what Arnold is truly capable of.

Who knows? This development may be the catalyst that will bring out the best in Jackson Arnold.